When Vegas Freezes Over
by ti11ie
Summary: A very unlikely scenario when Hodges and Wendy finally cross the line to become more than just friends. Reposted from geekfiction community on Livejournal.


Wendy smoothed her skirt, unable to shake the nagging sensation that she was overdressed. She could hear the Christmas music playing inside; the party must have started already. Staring at her reflection in the window panels of the door, she tried to forget all her fantasised plans to catch Nick under the mistletoe. She would just take it easy, maybe flirt a little, and see whether he was interested. Nothing to be nervous about at all. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and continued to stare herself down as she rang Catherine's doorbell. Relax! She told herself, determined to play it cool, but mindful of this being her first and perhaps only opportunity to get to know him outside of work. Her anxious musings temporarily ended when Catherine opened the door and ushered her inside with a smile.

"Wow, Wendy, you look great. Come on in, the party's just getting going." Catherine handed her a glass of eggnog and led her to where the others were congregated in the living room. Wendy greeted the rest of her work colleagues while Catherine took her jacket to leave it in the guest bedroom. There were a few unfamiliar faces, obviously partners or just dates for the evening, but Wendy's attention focused on one of them in particular. The ridiculously cutesy looking blonde one who was practically sitting on Nick's lap as she whispered into his ear. Time for Plan B. Wendy downed her eggnog and went in search of another drink.

Several hours later Wendy collapsed onto the bed full of coats in Catherine's guest room, sobbing her heart out. What felt like a lifetime of hearing Nick referred to as 'honey bear' by a girl who thought that DNA was a federal organisation akin to the FBI and CIA had only been made endurable due to some skilfully made, and even more skilfully poured, cocktails that Catherine had produced to 'loosen everyone up a bit'. Wendy only just managed to stop herself from suggesting that some members of the group seemed loose enough already. That was when she had decided it was time to take herself home alone. Again. Gathering every last shred of dignity she made it as far as the guest room to collect her coat before bursting into loud tears that she tried to smother with coats.

A few moments later Hodges exited the en suite. He didn't notice Wendy on the bed until she let out a small sob just as his hand touched the doorknob. He froze momentarily, and then turned slowly towards the bed, unsure of what to do. He had long ago accepted that he was completely inept in virtually all social situations, and was more than happy to remain so, or at least he had been until recently. Now he wanted more and more to have some small amount of social grace whenever Wendy was around. Or at the very least find a way to stop the bumbling idiot inside from showing his face every time she stuck her head in the room. Right now he'd settle for knowing what to say. He wanted to say something witty, something charming, something that Grissom would say before breaking the case and driving off into the sunset with one arm around his girl. The problem was that he was David Hodges, so he said nothing and just cleared his throat loudly instead. Wendy stiffened at this, surreptitiously wiping her eyes before turning to face him, perching on the edge of the bed.

"Oh…Hey Hodges. I was just…err… looking for my coat." She finished lamely, wondering if there was anything about this evening that was not going to be excruciating for her. Hodges stared at her for a few moments, and she thought he was going to call her on her obviously puffy eyes and mascara-stained cheeks, but finally he shrugged as if he bought her excuse.

"Do you need some help looking for it?" He asked, sitting down next to her on the bed. Wendy looked at him incredulously for a second, before realising that it was her excuse in the first place, so she really ought to play along. Hopefully Hodges would get the idea and leave.

"Thanks, but I'm fine." She took a breath to steady herself. The situation was getting more embarrassing by the second. First she got upset over a guy who thought her sole purpose in life was to bump him up to the top of the DNA queue, and now Hodges had to catch her crying about it. For a moment it looked as if he was going to go, he put his hands on his knees as if to rise, but then he stopped.

"Do you want a ride home?" There was something there, behind his eyes, behind his words. Something sincere.

"It's ok, I'll get a cab." This new side to Hodges sliced right through Wendy, bristling uncomfortably with her insecurities. She hated feeling like this, like she needed to be looked after. The fact that he wanted to do that made her want to cry all over again at the plain niceness of the gesture.

"Nah," he insisted gently, "it'll cost you a fortune. Let me take you. Door to door. I'll make sure you get home safe, no deep conversations about the state of the world on the way home. Hell, I'll even let you pick the radio station." He smiled at this. A nice smile, not his regular sarcastic one, and Wendy found herself hoping to see it again. Shaking her head, the bizarreness of the situation started to dawn on her. Hodges comforting her. On a pile of coats. In Catherine's ridiculously large guest bedroom.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" She suddenly demanded.

"I'm not always an insensitive jerk, you know…" Hodges' hands flew up in mock surrender, before he continued with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Besides, I read somewhere that crying increases a woman's sex drive by twenty percent… It's a comfort thing." He deadpanned. Wendy giggled at this. As in actually laughed at one of his jokes. Keep cool, Dave, play the game.

"Twenty percent, huh?" Was she flirting with him?

"Yeah. I figure that raises my chances from 'not if I was the last man alive and we had to repopulate the Earth' to a much more promising 'when Vegas freezes over', and hey, look, it's snowing." Hodges pointed to the fake snow that had been sprayed onto every window in the house by an over-zealous Lindsey. Wendy laughed again. It was fast becoming his favourite sound in the world.

"Smooth." A knowing little smile as her eyes met his. Definitely flirting.

"Well I have been known to…" He started, not really knowing where he was going with this, but desperate to keep the conversation going.

"Hodges? Leave it there." Wendy advised with a smirk. She couldn't believe she was actually feeling happier. Hodges had cheered her up. She found herself sneaking another peak at his eyes. When he was relaxed like this, just one on one, he was kind of cute. He had a 'thing'. Something she couldn't quite describe or put her finger on. An essence that was so 'Hodges' that she couldn't deny it, but at the same time completely new and strangely compelling. Suddenly she realised that they'd been staring at each other in silence for a long moment, and, embarrassed, she broke eye contact under the pretext of searching for her jacket once more.

"Nick's a fool." It slipped out before Hodges could stop himself. Wendy's shoulders immediately went tense and the light mood between them evaporated. Idiot. Way to say the wrong thing. He held his breath to keep from making it worse, and waited for her reaction. Finally she turned back round to face him.

"What did you say?" She was past faking nonchalance and Hodges question had caught her completely off guard.

"Nothing. I'm sorry. I should go. It was nothing. I just… Nick's a fool. A blind fool if he can't see how amazing you are." Once more the words erupted from Hodges lips without his permission, and much to his horror, if the hand that flew too late to his mouth was anything to go by. Wendy stared at him for a moment in absolute shock as his words registered.

"You think I'm amazing?" She asked quietly, surprised at how good that made her feel. Hodges battled for a long minute between telling her the truth and baring his soul or turning tail and running, leaving her with a 'Hodges-ism' that she could bitch about to the whole lab. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Maybe it wouldn't be so scary if he couldn't actually see her when she shot him down in flames.

"Yes." There, he'd signed his own death warrant.

"Yes?" She asked, as if she didn't understand his answer.

"I do." He replied, as if he needed to clarify. She didn't say anything at first, and he could only guess what expression was on her face. Disgust? Shock? Embarrassment?

"Hodges?"

"Yeah?" He cracked open an eye to regard her.

"Kiss me."

"Right." He nodded in an exaggerated movement as he nervously watched the lips that he had spent so long fantasising over came crashing down on his. He could taste the alcohol as Wendy moved to deepen the kiss and the thought crossed his mind that he should stop, that he shouldn't take advantage of her in this state, but then her tongue swept into his mouth he lost all self control. Why couldn't he be Gil Grissom for a change? Why couldn't he save the day and get the girl? His mind made up, he pulled her against him, ravaging her sweet mouth. He was determined to make every moment that Wendy let him do this count.

He made no comment when she moved to straddle him, grinding her arousal against the stiff bulge in his pants, and she made no comment when he produced a condom from nowhere, unzipping himself and rolling it on. Loud moans escaped her as she rode him with abandon, letting his unbridled worship of her body go to her head. She was shocked at her body's wanton response to him. This is Hodges, she tried to tell herself, but all she could articulate were husky pleas. Somehow her breasts were freed from her top and sucked hard into his busy mouth. Perfect, he thinks they're perfect. The memory and the comfort it brought dragged Wendy precariously close to the edge of ecstasy.

"Please, David, please." Hearing his given name in that whimpered little voice was enough to flip his switch from lust-driven to caveman. He rolled them over and began to thrust into her with everything he had. Shock hit her with her orgasm. David Hodges had made her come. He carried on a few moments longer, the rhythm becoming more uneven as he approached and then flew over into intense pleasure. Afterwards Wendy would remember that part vividly; her fingertips massaging the back of his neck as Hodges came whispering her name into her neck.

When it was over, Wendy quickly smoothed her clothes back into place while Hodges cleaned up. She was deliberately avoiding both Hodges' stare and her own increasingly confused thoughts on what had just taken place. Satisfied that she was once more presentable, she grabbed her jacket from the bed and made for the door, stopping as her hand made contact with the handle, but not turning round.

"Could you… could you not tell anyone about this?" She hated herself even as she said it. Coward, her mind screamed at her.

"Of course not…" Hodges made sure to line the phrase as thickly as he could with disdain, scowling after her until the door clicked back into place. Then he sank back down onto the bed and confessed in a hushed whisper.

"This was special." He was still sat in the same position, head in hands, when the door opened again, ten seconds later.

"Is there any chance I can still get that ride?" Wendy still couldn't look him in the eye, and Hodges figured that there was no one else able to run her home, but there was no way in hell he was letting the opportunity to be in an enclosed environment with her go to waste, especially after what had just happened between them.

"Sure," he stood and turned away from her. "I'll just grab my jacket." He said over his shoulder.

"Thanks, Dave." The door clicked shut as Wendy went to say her good-byes. Hodges put his jacket on, and, with a look into the mirror on the side, he flicked up his collar theatrically and winked at his reflection before leaving the room to find Wendy.

"Game on."


End file.
